Inevitable
by ZenBabe
Summary: AU Naley: Nathan and Haley go to different schools, and keep meeting over the corse of one day, purely through fate.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys! So I decided to post this Naley story here. I already have 6 chapters written, so I should be updating pretty regularly (hopefully), maybe once a week? **

**Summary: Nathan and Haley go to different schools and one day they keep meeting just by fate. This fic will take place all just in one day and every chapter (except maybe the last one or two chapters) will be all their meetings during that one day, and little glimses into the present (Nathan or Haley reminising about this one day). It'll probably be about ten chapters.**

**Inevitable**

**CHAPTER 1**

Nathan's POV

_I was never one to believe in fate. All that "love at first sight" and "everything happens for a reason" crap. Life doesn't really work like that. But of course, no one actually believes in that stuff unless they truly experience it. Like I did, once. That day; that **one** day. This one friday in May was enough to make me a believer. That is, until the day was over and that little ounce of hope and belief in me disappeared. I know now, that no matter how slim my chances are, I will do anything to get that hope and belief back in me. But like I said before; things don't work that way._

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May 1st

"Dude, I thought you said I could get the car today?" I said, annoyed into the phone.

"Sorry, bro. Brooke needed a ride to school. You can have it tomorrow. Just take the bus or something." Lucas said. Ok, so I'm happy Lucas and I became cool and actually act like family now, but it's times like these when I just want to smack him.

"The bus already left, it's ten minutes 'till school starts , and I'm barely dressed. Can't you at least pick me up?" I said, frantically trying to pull my pants on in record time.

"We're already at school, Nate. I'm sorry-" Not wanting to waste more time talking to my worthless half-brother, I hung up on him. Things were not working for me today. I brushed my teeth only to realize later that I had forgotten to use toothpaste. I had tried to gel my hair and then noticed that it was not gel I was spreading through my hair, but my mom's coconut-mango body lotion. And when I was almost out the door, deciding that for one days I could live with water-brushed teeth and fruity hair, I looked down to see that my pants I had so rapidly jumped into, were on backwards.

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Normally I wouldn't have cared so much about getting to school late, but today was different. I had already been late to class a total of eight times in the last month. See, Tree Hill High had this rule about if you're late three times in one semester you get a detention. If you get three detentions, they call your parents. And in my case, once they call my parents, my $$ is grounded. Plus the basketball coaches are not exactly happy when you miss class _once_, but nine times, three detentions and a call home will guarantee you a nice, warm seat on the bench for the next game.

As I pass by St. Catherine's, Tree Hill's only private and catholic school, I'm tempted, as always, to glance over at the girls in their skirt-and-blouse uniforms, but I don't even look, because that would just slow me down. Now that is determination. Tim once told me that catholic school girls are always the most sluty. All I knew was that if they saw me checking them out, they would all run over, as if a boy looking at them was as rare as gold falling from the sky. And then I would have to endure damnation from a nun or something.

I was awoken from my thoughts as a pretty little brunette came up to me, looking a little uncomfortable. However, it wasn't from the itchy-looking vests the uniform required. It seemed like it was more the sketching-looking dude who had just droped her off, and who she looked back at and suddenly pointed to me.

"Do I-" know you. That's what I would have asked if she hadn't cut me off right then.

"Do you mind if I kiss you?" Before I could register what she was saying (instead I was busy registering how cute she looked in that uniform), she reached up and kissed me, square on the lips. Too shocked to have any form of a reaction, I stood there immobile as she pulled away, her cheeks slightly blushed. I followed her gaze to see the now-pissed guy that had dropped her off, driving away, then I looked back at her for some sort of explanation. However, all I caught was the sight of her now ten feet away from me, running into the school.

"Hey!" I tried to shout to stop her, but she either was ignoring me, or didn't hear. Either way, I didn't really have time to run after her. Her running into school like that reminded me that I was also now incredibly late for school. But somehow, that's not exactly what I cared about anymore, and it's not what I spent the rest of my walk thinking about.

Was it so weird that I could still feel her lips on mine?

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**AN: The next chapters will be longer, I promise!! I just liked how this one ended even though it was really short, so I just decided not to add any more to this chapter. Please tell me what you thought in a review! Thanks so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Wow! I wasn't expecting so many reviews, I was really blown away! Thanks so much to: chelle2911, MrsLucasScott, naleyluv, OTHlover04, a, jenn, dots27, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, and naleysocute23!**

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**CHAPTER 2**

Haley's POV

_My whole life I had been the good-girl. Little-Miss-Perfect to everyone I knew, even to myself. I knew that I had good grades, great ambition, and a nice life. But there was always that part of me that no one ever saw. That little part of me that wanted to dance around in my underwear, or break curfew, or become a singer. While all my life, I had dreams of really getting places through my hard work, I found myself having bigger dreams of leaving Tree Hill; of going somewhere where no one knew me, and where I could completely start over. I could be whoever I wanted to be! Who knew, that I really didn't need to leave Tree Hill for that. I just needed to be at the right place, at the right time, on that one day, May 1st. And that's when I finally met the one person with whom I could be myself, and be more than what everyone I knew saw me as. More than their 'Little-Miss-Perfect' idea of who I was. May 1st. I owe everything in me to that one fateful day._

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"Haley James, no you did not!" Peyton exclaimed, once she was able to pull her jaw off the floor after I had told her I had just kissed a complete stranger. You see, it's not like I'm some anti-social freak that nothing ever happens to. But yeah, me kissing some complete stranger on the street is about as likely as Paris Hilton suddenly declaring she's a virgin.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? I knew I shouldn't have told Chris I had a boyfriend; I should have known he wouldn't believe me. Am I _that_ bad a liar?" I said. I should really be blaming Peyton for all of this anyways. She's the one who told me to work with Chris on my music! And okay, even though I love her for it, because without her, I would have never even considered singing outside of my shower, but when Chris started hitting on me I freaked out! So, I told him the only thing I could think of, that I had a boyfriend.

"So how was it?" Peyton asked, ignoring my question.

"It was... I don't know..." I said shyly, not being successful in trying to hide my smile. The fact was, I couldn't stop thinking about him. It's not like we shared some magical kiss, it was a two-second kiss used to fool someone into thinking he was my boyfriend. But somehow, this boy... he would not leave my mind.

"Oh, look at you!"

"What?" I said innocently.

"You have that smile on!" She said swatting me playfully.

"What smile?" I said, like I didn't know what she was talking about, and swatted her right back.

"That school-girl I've-got-a-crush smile," She said wiggling her eyebrows. "He must have been some guy, to get Haley James to fall for him after just one little kiss."

"Ok, first of all, I don't even know him so I did not _fall_ for him. And second, I'm never going to see him again, so can we please just drop it?"

"Ok fine."

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Nathan's POV

"Nathan! Wait up!" I turned around to see Lucas running behind me, as I walked down the hall toward the cafeteria. Somehow, I hadn't gotten a detention this morning, even though I did miss half of my first class. The one good thing about my father, is that I inherited that good ole' Scott charm... Works every time.

"Dude, I've been calling you for the past five minutes chasing you down the hall, where's your head at?" Oh, just the beautiful girl that randomly kissed me this morning.

"Nowhere. I was just... you know, worried about the Calculus test next period, that's all." I said, coming up with what I thought was the best excuse. And I thought it was working, because for a while Lucas looked at me with a straight face... before of course, cracking up.

"Yeah, _right_." He said, but then, thankfully moved on, "Anyways, I just wanted to say sorry again for this morning, you know, not giving you a ride and all... Nathan?" I guess I had been spacing out a little.

"Huh?" I said, dumbly.

"Do you forgive me?"

"Forgive you? I should be thanking you, bro!" I said, before I realized what exactly I was saying.

"What? Thanking me? Why?"

"Ummm, well... I mean..." Blankness. That was what was going through my mind. Well not exactly, it did still hold the perfect image of the girl that kissed me... never would that image leave my mind. "Oh, you're going to think I'm insane..." Lucas looked at me weirdly.

"Dude, what is going on?"

"I think I'm in love." I said, trying to look love-struck. How does one truly get the love-struck look down anyhow?

"_What?_" He said with huge eyes, "Yeah, you're right, you are insane. Have you eaten?"

"No, listen to me. This morning, as I was walking to school, I walked passed St Catherine's, and there was this girl there. And she just came up to me and kissed me. Before I could say anything, or even process anything that had just happened, she ran away."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Man, you should have seen this girl. I know it sounds weird, some girl just going up and randomly kissing strangers, but there was something different about this one. She seemed so innocent... so pure." Just talking about her brought back the sensation of her lips against mine back in me, and I suddenly found the urge to be impulsive, "I need to find her."

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**AN: I'm sorry there was no Naley in that, and that it was kinda short! But I kinda wanted to end it like that, and the next chapter will be their next encounter! I hope you guys liked it, please leave reviews, thank you all so much for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you guys so much for the fantastic replies. I absolutely love hearing from all of you. Thanks to: Conaleigh Leonhart, naleyluv, dots27, Nathanlvr23, naleysocute23, chelle2911, Youre Undeniable 09, Lorilozz, itsDMFkids, jr forever, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, mayra23, Tanoha, and OTH.daddy'sgurl.06!!**

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**CHAPTER 3**

Nathan's POV

"She's short, has brown hair…" I said for the millionth time, trying to describe my mystery girl. After I had run off on Lucas at lunch, I ran straight to St Catherine's to find her. Now, they wouldn't actually let me inside the school, so I waited outside the gate, desperately hoping to see her in the yard and yell out to her. But she was nowhere to be found. And not knowing her name or grade, it wasn't exactly easy to find her.

"Never mind," I said, giving up and looking down at my watch realizing that there were only 10 minutes left in the lunch period. Not wanting to go back to school just then, back to Lucas who would be wanting to hear about my romantic reunion with my dream girl, I decided to head to the Rivercourt.

I don't know what even made me think I would ever see her again. And even if I did, what made me think it would be some magical moment? I had my first kiss when I was twelve, and since then I've kissed my fair share of girls. So why was this one kiss, this one girl so… different? For all I knew she could be a psycho. Or worse, she could have a _boyfriend_. All these thoughts would not stop clogging up my mind, and I was thankful that I was almost at the Rivercourt by now. Nothing helped to clear my heard more than shooting a few hoops and just being alone.

But before I could even reach the court, I stopped at the sound of music. Someone must have left their car radio on, was my first thought. But then I realized that it wasn't coming from any sort of radio; it was coming from someone's voice. I stepped a little further, but stayed out of site from the singer, who I realized, as my heart skipped a beat, was in fact the girl I had just spent 50 minutes trying to find, the very same girl that had invaded my thoughts ever since I first laid my eyes on her.

"I love the time and in between

The calm inside me"

A notebook sprawled out in front of her and a pencil in her hand, she sang those sweet words straight from her heart. And maybe it was the fact that it was only us two there, but something in the way she sang made me feel like she was singing directly to me, serenading me with those beautiful lyrics.

"In this space where I can breathe

I believe there a distance I have wandered

To touch upon the years

Reaching out and reaching in

Holding out holding in"

Half because I was being drawn by her song, and half because I was convinced I had the courage to go up to her, I started walking towards her. But of course something had to ruin this potentially grand romantic moment, and that something had to be me. More specifically, it was the basketball I didn't see lying on the ground in front of me that I managed to trip over, not only making a huge fool of myself, but also creating a loud noise, instantly making the singing stop.

She turned around, frightened at the loud ruckus my clumsiness had caused. I pulled myself up and took the basketball with me, giving her a small smirk. Embarrassing moments do not happen to me that often, and when they do, they of course _have_ to happen at the worst possible time. But for some reason I wasn't too embarrassed.

"You're the guy from this morning?" She said, more as a statement than as a question. So she remembered me! That's a good thing, right?

"Nathan Scott," I said, jumping at the chance to introduce myself, and holding out my hand, which she accepted.

"Haley James," She replied. _Haley_. "Hey, are you OK? That was a pretty bad fall," she said with a hint of a smile upon her lips. Of course, she had to bring that up. And of course, she thought it was funny.

"Oh, that? Yeah… no, that was on purpose," I lied, improvising as I went along.

"Mhm," She said, not convinced, "So that was, what? To impress me?"

"No," I replied, "to impress you, I'm about to show you some of my basketball skills," I said, spinning the ball on my finger . If there's one thing that always works with the ladies, at least in my experience, this would be it.

"Well, are you sure? I mean, I wouldn't want you to trip and hurt yourself again."

"Haha, you're funny," I said sarcastically and right before shooting the ball with ease straight through the net.

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Haley's POV

What the hell am I doing? I'm acting like one of those girls in the movies; one of those girls who can say whatever they want to guys and not be intimidated. I'm flirting; I'm laughing; and the weirdest thing is that I wasn't embarrassed at all when I found out that the guy I had just been dreaming about for the past three hours had just heard me singing to myself. This is not like me. What was it about this guy that makes me say and do things I would never under regular circumstances do?

"Nice shot," I said grabbing the ball as it rebounded, and taking a shot myself. Now, I have no idea what I was thinking, the last time I played basketball was in the seventh grade, and I was always picked last on the teams, so I would just stop. The only class I've ever skipped was PE. I would never have considered attempting to play basketball, because I knew it would end in complete humiliation. Yet, for some reason, my instinct told me to shoot the ball, so I did.

And of course the ball missed the basket by about two feet, and I was left humiliated, with the thought '_Why did I do that?_' ringing through my head. Nathan chuckled lightly, but didn't jump at the opportunity to make fun of me, which I was thankful for.

"Alright," he said after grabbing the rebound and coming back to stand next to me. "We may need to fix this."

"Just tell me what to do," I said, eager to learn. Well, not as much excited about the learning, but rather about the teacher.

"OK, first you have to bend your knees," He said, showing me exactly how, and I did as instructed, "And you have to hold the basketball up like this," He said holding the basketball in front of his face. I put my hands up as if I had one too. "And then you just shoot," He said demonstrating, and of course making it in.

"You make it look so easy."

"Years of practice, that's all," He said, shrugging, and handed me the ball, "Here, you try." I caught the ball and tried to remember the steps he had just taught me. My head went a little cloudy when I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was coming closer to me, and positioned himself right beside me and laid his hands right on my hips. I tried hard not to jump or squeal, and as my insides were partying, my outside was completely calm and collected. Way to go, Hales!

"Now, bend your knees," He said, and I did as I was told. I remembered the next step, so I brought the ball up in position to shoot and waited for his signal. "Good. Now shoot." I shot, and to my surprise the ball actually made it inside the net.

"I did it!" I let out, before I could contain myself.

"There you go, that was beautiful," He said in a completely casual tone, yet his hands remained firmly placed on my hips, and I didn't dare move them. Why did this feel so… right?

"Yeah," I said, turning my head to look at him, my voice getting caught in my throat a little at the sight of his gorgeous face. Had I forgotten of nice it was? "I-I think I'm getting better…"

"Definitely," He said huskily, starring at me so intensely, I suddenly forgot where I was, and what was going on. What _was_ going on? What on earth was I doing here, with a complete stranger? Fumbling to look at my watch, I mumbled something about being late for class, which I actually was, ran to pick up my notebook and pencil and ran off.

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Nathan's POV

_Great, moron, way to scare the poor girl away!_ I said to myself. What now? So great, I got her name, but there was still no way of knowing if I would ever see her again. It just occurred to me that maybe getting a phone number would have been smart. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it now. And her running off hurriedly like that, made me realize that I was late for class as well.

When I got back to Tree Hill High, it was already half way through my English Lit class, so I decided to skip the rest. Soon after, the period ended and through the swarm of people walking down the halls, although I tried to avoid him, Lucas found me.

"Dude, did you just get back?" He asked.

"Kind of," I said, not wanting to go into details.

"So… what happened?"

"I didn't find her," I said shrugging. "I was just at the Rivercourt for a while." Not telling Lucas just yet felt right. For some reason, I felt like I wanted to keep me and Haley's world separate. It seemed almost unreal, but it was the greatest feeling in the world. _Haley James._ I didn't even get to tell her how wonderful her singing was…

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**AN: Ok guys, I'm actually pretty proud of that chapter, so hopefully you guys will like it! I love hearing what you think about this story, so please leave a review! Thanks so much for reading! Song credit: Elsewhere, by Bethany Joy Galeotti**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: naleyluv, mistydm, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, utterlylost1108, asharp4, MrsLucasScott, liz, DayDreamer323, Nathanlvr23, naley23lover101, nateandhales4ever, naleysocute23, and chelle2911. Just know that your reviews make me so happy, and I appreciate them immensely!**

**Note/Correction: And if you guys didn't know, as naleyluv pointed out to me, Elsewhere, the first song that Haley sang in OTH and that I made her sing in my last chapter, was originally sung by Sarah McLachlan. Sorry about that.**

**Chapter 4**

Haley's POV

I sprinted into my calculus class fifteen minutes late, my hair disheveled and out of breath. Mrs. Brown, our teacher who was going on seventy, turned her head slowly towards me while the class sat in complete silence and looked up at the one girl they had never, ever seen be late to any class; me. I gave a nervous, apologetic smile and headed towards my seat in silence. But it was stupid of me to think that I could get away that easily.

"Ms. James, come see me after school today," She said cooly. Before I could say anything, Peyton spoke for me.

"Mrs. Brown, she can't! We have a game right after school." Now, cheerleading wasn't exactly my idea, but it's just something Peyton's mom used to do, so she wanted to join. And of course, not wanting to be alone with the "bleached blonde bimbos," as she put it, she forced me to join with her. But it actually wasn't too bad; I enjoyed the excitement of the games. Today particularly was our basketball team's championship. A pretty big deal.

"Ms. Sawyer, unless you would like to join your friend after school, I suggest you let me do my job. Ms. James, I _will_ see you after school." She said firmly.

"Yes, Ma'am," I said sending an apologetic look towards Peyton, who just gave me an 'oh well' look.

When class was over, I walked out into the hall to find Peyton there waiting for me. Before I could start ranting about how sorry I was that I was going to be late for the game, she bombarded me with questions.

"Where were you during lunch? And why were you late? What happened? I was getting worried."

"Peyton, I'm so sorry. You are never going to guess what happened," I said as we walked down the hall to our next class.

"What?" She said impatiently.

"You know the guy I told you about this morning? The one I... kissed." I said blushing just thinking about it. I still could not believe that _I_ did that. Peyton nodded, clearly getting excited about his news. "I saw him again at the River Court. We talked, he taught me how to shoot a basket..."

"Aw," Peyton swooned, "Please tell me you got his name."

I nodded, "Nathan Scott." I watched her expression go from overjoyed to just... shocked.

"Oh," Was her only response and she suddenly felt very distant, something was not right.

"What is it?"

"Nothing... it's just-" She thought about it for a second, "nothing... it's nothing."

"No, Peyton," I said grabbing her arm and stopping in the middle of the hallway right in front of our class, "Seriously, what is it? Do you know him or something?"

"No, not exactly..." She said lowering her voice. I was starting to get a little scared, what the hell was going on? "He kind of has a... reputation around Tree Hill. I know _of _him."

"Well, what have you heard? I mean, it can't be _that_ bad; I met him, talked to him, I know he's not some... creep." I said trying desperately to convince myself that that was true.

"Look, I mean, we can't assume that all we hear is true. For all we know it could just be meaningless gossip. But... I mean, I have heard it from several people..." I could tell she was stalling, obviously scared that whatever she was going to say was going to effect me in some way... in a bad way.

"What? What have you heard? Just tell me, please." I insisted.

"It's this whole messed up story; he has this horrible dad that has another son, the same age, with another woman, who he completely ignores and won't acknowledge as his own son-"

"So what does that have to do with Nathan? So what if his dad's an ass?"

"I'm not done yet. Apparently basketball skills aren't the only thin Nathan inherited from his dad. Ever since Nathan and his half brother have been going to school together, Nathan has done everything to make him uncomfortable, I mean this boy has never done anything to him, but just because of their whole messed up family Nathan developed a hatred towards him-"

"No, no," I said, interrupting her, "This cannot be the same person. Nathan's sweet, he's gentle. He was _so_ nice."

"Haley just listen to me. Nathan's attitude towards his half brother is not what he is most known for. For years he's been the most notorious lady's man in Tree Hill, just like his dad was when he was younger. He hooks up with _everyone_. All the girlfriends he's ever had, he's cheated on." Right then the bell rang, making my heart jump. "I'm so sorry, Haley. I wouldn't tell you this unless I was positive that I was protecting you." And with that she entered the class room.

I had already been late for my last class, and that was definitely not like me. I decided that I needed to attend this class, so I followed Peyton into the room. But it was completely useless; I spent the whole class period thinking over what Peyton had just revealed to me.

He was supposed to be my dream guy... I was such a different person around him; I was fun, flirty, but I was myself at the same time. It never occurred to me that he could be playing a part... that he could turn out to be the total opposite of what I thought him to be.

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Nathan's POV

The last three periods of the day went by _way_ too slowly. I had spent the majority of that time just thinking about my run-in with Haley at the River Court, and cursing myself for not asking for her number. I couldn't even run over to St Catherine's after school to try and catch her before she left because I had a game later. That's when I remember. The championship. The championship varsity basketball game was tonight. And it was against St Catherine's.

Every ounce in my body seemed to perk up at the idea of seeing Haley again tonight at the game. But then again, if for any reason she happened to be at the game, it would be to watch her boyfriend play... and that thought just did not sit right with me. There was something about this girl... it just all seemed too good to be true.

Then I remembered that at the River Court today, how Haley didn't seem to have any experience or interest in basketball. Figuring that she probably wouldn't be there, I decided to try and concentrate on something different. At least for the next few hours. This was the biggest game of the year, and it had to be the only thing on my mind for me to do my best.

I walked into the men's locker room where all the Ravens were getting ready for the big game. They all bumped fists with me, or high-fived me, or patted me on the back. As captain of the team, there was an enormous amount of pressure on this game for us to win. But of course, growing up with my dad got me used to having pressure put on me. I just don't let it get to me anymore, just like I don't let my dad get to me anymore.

Whitey came into the locker room a few minutes before the game was starting. All the guys were dressed and not saying very much. They were either too nervous for the game to say anything, or in my case, too deep in thought to talk.

"Now boys, I know there's a lot of pressure on you all tonight to win this game. But you just have to forget all that, leave that behind when you walk out onto that court. I want everyone one hundred percent focused out there. You make me proud." He said and and then left. I always liked Whitey; he always said what was on his mind, not some lame pep-talk to make us all 'feel better.' Whenever he had a speech to make, he made it short, clear, and to the point. And I was thankful for that, I only wished I could say that about everyone in my life.

"Alright," I said getting the attention of all my team-mates, "bring it in guys." They all gathered around me in a huddle. "Ravens on there. One, two, three." All our voices joined to yell our team's name in unison. Music to my ears.

An adrenalin rush running through me, I followed our team and ran out last onto the court, the crowd and our cheerleaders cheering us on. This was what I loved. I loved running out of that locker room to find all my friends, all my classmates united to watch this team win the championship. I used to be so wrapped up in myself, my ego was too huge to even realize the true beauty of this; to realized how much I loved this sport and this team. Maybe that's why I felt so close to Haley even though I had barely met her: because I had shared with her what was really the only love in my life, basketball. I skimmed the bleachers on the St Catherine's side for any site of her, but as I had figured, she wasn't there.

I went up to the center of the court to shake hands with the other team captain and picked heads for the coin toss. Right as the coin was tossed and the whole room was in complete silence in anticipation for the start of the game, the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard and made a loud echoing. I looked up and I swear, I almost stopped breathing. It was _Haley_. And not only was it Haley, but it was Haley in a _cheerleader's_ outfit. And I thought the uniform was hot...

Our eyes locked for a few seconds as a smile crept upon my lips. But no such smile appeared on her face, instead she looked at me confusedly, or maybe... regretfully? She broke eye contact first and headed over to her fellow cheerleaders, and I was forced to look away when the referee announced that the coin was heads and the ball was ours. And I had to suddenly put all my focus and concentration on playing the game... with is a thing quite hard to accomplish when the girl perhaps of your dreams is standing right across the gym cheering on the opposite team.

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**AN: I hope you don't hate me! But, I mean, there needed to be some sort of conflict, but don't worry, there is definitely some more good Naley to come! Also, for anyone who is a Jeyton fan, I have a story: Simply Because, that is up here, so if anyone's interested, please check it out!**

**Please leave a review, I love hearing what you guys think! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey guys, I got an overwhelming amount of amazing reviews for this story, and I love it! Thank you guys so much: PrettyGirl114, dots27, elosie09, naleysocute23, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, utterlylost1108, TrudyGill23, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, naleyluv, Mrs.LucasScott, asharp4, Nathanlvr23, and DayDreamer323!**

**Chapter 5**

Haley's POV

I had gotten to the Tree Hill Ravens' gym just in time for the game to start. I tried to sprint over to my cheerleading squad, but somehow my legs wouldn't let me. They were paralyzed; glued to the ground... just as my eyes were glued to him. When I ran into the gym, late because of my meeting with Mrs. Brown, I had no intention but to run over to my squad and endure a shameful night of clumsily cheering on our pathetic basketball team. Of course, considering the few amount of schools in Tree Hill, I should have just assumed that Nathan went to Tree Hill High. What did I think, that he was sent from above? Or an angel perhaps, someone only I could see?

I stood still for a moment, not remembering where I was, or what I was doing. I wanted to walk up to him, ask him if all those things Peyton had told me about him, about his reputation were true. But there was a cheerleading squad waiting for me to join them, and a huge crowd of people just waiting for the game to begin. I finally broke my gaze away from him, since he obviously wasn't going to; I swear I thought that boy would stare at me so intensely I would melt.

Reaching my squad right when the start of the game was marked by the buzzer, Peyton grabbed my arm.

"I'm so sorry, Hales. I totally forgot that we were playing Tree Hill High tonight. We can blow this off if you want?" She said sympathetically. Now, that was a tempting offer. Right now, spending an hour watching the boy I thought was from my dreams running up and down a court, while all the girls fawned after him was not exactly my cup of tea. But of course, if I left then I would be a coward. And Nathan would wonder why I was afraid of him, and then move onto the next girl in line. Oh no, that was not going to happen. I may not be the toughest girl in Tree Hill, far from it actually, but I was not about to just run away. I would stay for the entire game, and afterwards, I was going to confront Nathan, face to face.

"No," I replied, "Thanks Peyton, but I think I really need to stay. Besides, what would Jake say if you just up and left in the middle of his most important game?" Jake was Peyton's boyfriend, and perhaps St. Catherine's only shot at maybe _almost_ winning the championship. Now, St. Catherine's catholic school was many things, but good at sports was not one of them. But thanks to Jake and a few other gifted seniors, the basketball team had made it to the championship for the first time in... ever.

Peyton smiled, adorably. She was no romantic... until Jake came along. "You know what he told me before the game?"

"What?" I said excited because Jake was always saying the sweetest things. Their relationship was the kind that made every girl think, _Now, why can't I have a boyfriend like that_. But at the same time, I almost didn't want to hear it. Because as cute as it was, it always made me long for something I knew I wouldn't have. And I spoke with Peyton about love and actual functional relationships as if I even knew what it was like, but I don't.

"He said he's only been playing so well this year because of me. Because he wants to win every game to make me proud to be his. And that it didn't even matter to him if they won the championship, because now he has something more important to hold on to... me." She said gushing, staring lovingly at her boyfriend, just as he passed by them, and blowing him a kiss. He smiled lovingly back.

I didn't really know what to respond. It was so overwhelming. A year ago, Peyton was not like this, she was brooding, and sarcastic, and just... not happy. But all that has changed. And Haley thought that since Peyton found this person that completed her, it was only fair that Haley found someone just as special for herself, wasn't it?

"Do you even know how lucky you are, Peyton?," I said, "That you found someone that makes you feel that way? I mean the closest I came to that was..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence. The truth was, I was still a naive little girl at heart, with fantasies of disney movies coming true, and fairy-tale endings. So when I met Nathan, and felt things inside me that I had never felt before, I was amazed and completely taken away.

"Look, Haley, I know how you feel, or felt, about Nathan. And the thing is, I've never seen you so happy as you were this morning. And I've never seen you as distressed as when I told you... what I'd heard about him." Peyton said, obviously trying very hard to say the right thing. "I mean, you're both in the same room right now, you may never get this opportunity again. And what if you were right, that he is special, that he is the guy for you-"

"Peyton, what are you saying?"

"I've been thinking about this and... as much as I want to protect you from... the pain that he could _possibly_ cause you, I feel horrible for just blurting out all that I've heard about him. I mean, you're the one that met him and talked to him and got to know him, and fell in love with-"

"Whoa, Peyton, I did _not_ fall in love with him," I said defensively. What was she crazy? I had only just met the guy.

"Well anyways, all I'm saying is that it might be better if you talk to him. I mean, don't accuse him of anything, just maybe have an honest, open conversation about it after the game."

"Oh, I'm going to talk to him, alright." I said, maybe still a little bitter about that 'falling in love' comment. How could I fall in love with such a jerk? No, I merely used him to trick Keller into thinking I had a boyfriend. And so what if I maybe liked him just a little. He was cute, I must admit. It was all a trick, all some deceitful little trick.

"You might want to cut him some slack." Peyton said, obviously regretful that she had told me all about Nathan.

"He's so notorious for being a player he must have known that it would get back to me...," I said ignoring what Peyton had just suggested, "He probably assumed that I wouldn't care and I would just jump in his arms anyway. Well, he couldn't be more wrong. I'm going to tell him just what I think of him after the game."

---

Nathan's POV

I was never so happy for a game to end when the final buzzer rang. And not only because we had won the game, gaining our school yet another championship trophy, but because Haley James, the girl I was sure I wouldn't see at the game, was in fact there. After a little celebration between the team in the locker room, I got dressed quicker than I ever thought imaginable, and sprinted outside so that I wouldn't miss her.

I was surprised to find her outside, waiting for me. The sight of her brought a smile automatically to my lips, and I started to get a little nervous, something I'm not around most girls. But Haley was not most girls, I reminded myself.

"Hey," I said awkwardly, as I realized that she didn't seem to share my pleasure in seeing her. In stead she sighed, and looked up at me square in the eye. Something was definitely off here. "Is something wrong?" She took a step back and looked at me as if I had just offended her in some way. I went over what I had just said in my mind, _Is something wrong?_. Nope, definitely nothing offensive there.

"How dare you?" She said, her voice a little louder than I remembered it to be. People were starting to look in our direction. I was starting to get a little confused here.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" She said, her voice raising even more. "How dare you make me believe that you were actually a decent guy."

"What are you talking about, Haley? I _am_ a decent guy!" I said trying to defend myself. If I wasn't confused before, I was definitely really confused by now. What was going on?

"Yeah, you would say that wouldn't you? Let me ask you this: What kind of a "decent guy" takes pleasure in making his own brother's life a living hell, hun? What kind of a "decent guy" cheats on all his girlfriends?"

Oh no, now I see where this is going... and it's not a place I want to be. It's not a place I thought I would ever return to. When I didn't say anything, she took that as a sign to continue.

"You have quite the reputation, Nathan Scott. And I am not about to be another one of your brainless... conquests!" Her voice lowered a little, which I was thankful for, as the crowd around us began to be distracted by something else, and was no longer focused on this girl telling me off. I could just barely notice a glistening in her eyes, the slight hint of tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. Did I cause that? "You had me falling for you..." She said shaking her head, almost whispering now, and I found that that was even more painful than her yelling at me.

I watched her turn around, and walk about ten feet before that little blow-up sank in and I realized that I might never get another chance to prove myself to her. Now, normally I would let the girl walk away, I would say how it was a shame that she would think that of me, and then move on. But something inside me told me not to let this one go. So I didn't.

"Haley!" I yelled. "Wait!" And when she turned around, I saw that a few of those tears had fallen. She wiped them away, clearly embarrassed that she had fallen apart like that, but still with an angry expression on her face.

"Please... just leave me alone."

I took a deep breathe. Confrontation was never easy. But this girl was worth it. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Haley. Just let me expl-"

"There's nothing to explain! I already heard it all!" She said regaining her strength, obviously fed up with me. And to tell the truth, I was beginning to get a little fed up myself.

"I can't believe that you're just going to judge me from what you heard from someone else? Does that sound fair to you? I've spent the last _year_ trying to prove that I'm a good person, trying to become a good person. And damn, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And when I have to hear people talk about how horrible I am, it makes me think that all that reinventing and ameliorating myself was for nothing. God Haley, do you have any idea how much it kills me to find out that you, the person that I've had on my mind all day, the person I ran out to see and talk to after the game, can just judge me and write me off as some jerk, without even getting to know me a little better?" OK, so that was a little extreme, but once I started I was on a roll, and nothing could stop me. I had to get it out, get it all out, because if there was one thing I'd learned was that if I kept everything bottled up, I would just end up bitter.

And yes, I was angry that Haley went off on me like that, and a little disappointed that she could just judge me like that, but once I saw her reaction, I wanted to kick myself. Her mouth was slightly open, as if she wanted to say something but was too shocked to utter one single word. Her expression had completely transformed from exhausted and annoyed to distraught and speechless. She finally seemed to find the strength to say _something_. I waited attentively to see what she might say.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, and then sadly turned around and started walking away. A multiple choice question appeared in my mind: What do I do? A) Let her walk away, and forget about her B) Let her walk away, but call her tomorrow, or C) Run after her and explain yourself. Since I realized that I didn't have her number, nor was I about to forget about her anytime soon, I opted for option C.

"Wait, Haley!" I yelled out jogging to catch up to her. She looked back surprised, and stopped, but didn't respond. I took this as my opening to explaining myself. "Can we just start over? I promise you, I _am_ a good guy, and would really like to explain all of this to you." She looked at me, thinking this offer over, and I believe I noticed a hint of a smile appear across her lips as she nodded her head. I sighed in relief, "OK, do you want to... go for a walk?" I offered, knowing very well that it sounded a little sketchy, but really wanting to get out of there and have a little privacy.

"Okay," She agreed, and we headed off.

---

**AN: Thanks so much for reading! Next update will hopefully be up next week! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey guys, sorry for not updating sooner! I'm on the winter break now though, so I will probably update a little more frequently (let's hope)! Thank you so much for the wonderful/fantastic/amazing reviews to: LaffertyLover, mistydm, Sam2007, asharp4, Ravenhottie23, mary-023, MrsLucasScott, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, DayDreamer23, a, Nathanlvr23, Mary Kate113, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, and NateandHales.**

**Chapter 6**

Present Day, Haley's POV

_I can still hear exactly the way he sounded when he uttered those words, "do you want to go for a walk?" The most completely mundane, unexciting words he could have said, yet for some reason this marked one of the most memorable evenings of my life. In fact that entire day, May 1st, held a most precious space in my heart and mind. Not a day has passed in the six months that it has been since then, that I have not thought about May 1st. The very same thoughts that sped through my mind that entire day, still occupied my brain today, six whole months later. Nathan. Nathan Scott. It has been six months since that day... And six months since I have last seen him._

---

May 1st

I didn't even have to ask Nathan to explain himself to me, he just dived right in. We walked from Tree Hill High to the River Court, and as soon as we had been out of hear-shot from the crowd at the school, he dove into what I was soon to learn was a quite difficult subject for him to dive into. But the thought that he would open up to me like that, when he had only known me a number of hours, made my insides go crazy. Was it possible to feel this way about someone I barely knew?

He told me about his life growing up with his horrible father. About his constant bickering and practical joking with Lucas, his half brother. And he told be about the day, about a year ago, when he finally realized that there was no point in doing what he was doing. The day that he realized he was turning into his father, and that was the _last_ thing he wanted.

"What made you realize all this?" I asked. He thought about it for a few seconds, and I was surprised that it seemed like he had never really given this any thought. Like one second he was a jerk, and the next he had completely humbled himself, without even thinking about it. Then he answered me.

"Brooke." Great, I thought. A girl. Another girl. The feelings of elation, and delight suddenly turned into feelings of jealousy, that I tried desperately to control. If he saw that I was jealous, he would think I was some crazy-crushed little girl. I was not about to let that happen.

"Who's Brooke?" I asked, pretending not to care.

And to my relief he answered, "Lucas' girlfriend. See, she and I kind of ran with the same crowd. She's captain of the cheerleading team, and is a friend of mine. So when she started going out with Lucas, at first I was furious. But over time, as I watched them fell deeply in love, she made me realized that he was a great guy, and I was the complete $$.

"Of course," he continued with a sigh, "then I was still too insecure to do anything about it, so instead of being a better man and apologizing, I became and even bigger jerk." I was experiencing all kinds of emotions. On one side, I could not believe that the sweet guy standing right next to me could be this inconsiderate. But on the other side, I realized how much strength, and courage it must take to admit something like that. "Anyways, being Brooke's boyfriend made Lucas more and more popular. Soon he joined the basketball team and then the guys started liking him, and before I knew it I was alone. I mean, I had never been alone before. _Ever_. So that's when it hit me. And that's when I changed."

"Wow," I said, not knowing what else I could say.

"Is that all you have to say?" He said half-joking. I sighed; I really had no idea what to say. I know I should have said something sympathetic and perfect like, _That's amazingly brave of you. It must have taken so much strength. So basically... you're perfect._ Which were pretty much the thoughts that were going through my mind. But, me being me, I didn't say anything like that. Mostly because I was busy hating myself for completely telling him off just minutes ago.

"I just... I feel like an idiot," I said.

"Don't-"

"No seriously," I interrupted, not wanting him to cut me any slack. I felt horrible. And I was going to keep feeling horrible until I apologized properly. "I'm so _so_ sorry. I had no right to just judge you like that. And I just..." I didn't quite know what to say without sounding like a love-struck teenager... which I guess wasn't that bad considering that's exactly what I was. "I hope that we're still cool and that you still want to get to know me better... because I would really like to get to know you better." I said nervously, wondering what his reaction would be.

He then gave me the most adorable smirk I had ever seen, "I would love that." And something in his voice and the look of sincerity in his eyes told me he actually meant it. OK, so he wants to get to know me. He may even _like_ me... but what now? This completely amazing moment was now followed by a slightly awkward silence. I felt like nothing I would say would measure up to those four incredible words he just said to me. We reached the River Court and sat down on a bench still in silence, and stared out at the river. It was so beautiful at night, so calm and peaceful. It almost turned that awkward silence into a completely comfortable one, as we both got lost in the scenery and the gorgeous atmosphere.

---

Nathan's POV

"Hey," I said wanting to break this ongoing silence between us, and coming up with a spur of the moment idea. "I have a proposal for you," getting excited at my idea.

"Wow Scott, you sure move fast, but I don't think I'm ready for marriage," She joked. Which really wasn't that funny, but on the other hand it was pretty adorable, and helped to break the ice a little.

"Haha," I said sarcastically, "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"I'm listening."

"I'm having a victory party at my beach house tonight. You should stop by." I said, trying my hardest to not sound too eager about this. But I couldn't help it. She thought about this idea for a moment.

"OK," She said after a little while, "but can I bring a friend?"

"Of course," I said, not exactly wild at the idea that she would be busy hanging with her friend tonight, and not me. But what was I supposed to say? _No, I want you all to myself!_ I mean, that was borderline creepy. I happened to glance at my watch just then to realize that the guys were probably already at my beach house, waiting for me. "Hey, so I should probably get going. But I'll see you later, right?"

"OK." She answered, and I jotted down the address for her, and while I was at it I sneaked in my phone number too... you know, just in case she needed directions of something...

"See you then." I said, not really wanting to leave. This was the part where it got awkward again. Do I kiss her? Hug her? Just walk away?

"See you," She said sweetly, but I could see her getting a little uncomfortable as well. Well, at least I wasn't the only one. Haley James. Probably the first girl to ever get me nervous. I realized that just standing there longer was just going to make the situation worse, so I quickly just leaned down and decided to settle for a simple kiss on the cheek.

---

Present Day

"I don't understand," Lucas said to me, " if you have her number, why don't you just call her?"

"No, you don't get it," I tried to explain, "We made a pact. We have an agreement. If I violate that, what does that say about me?"

"I'm sure she'll understand. In fact, I bet she's just as desperate to see you as you are to see her."

"I don't know that. God, I'm so stupid, I never should have agreed to this." I said, saying the words that both Lucas and I were far too familiar with. We were at the River Court, having our brother-bonding. But recently I had just bothered him with all my talk about Haley. For the entire day of May 1st she had occupied my mind. And for the last six months since then, that fact hadn't changed. "Anyways," I said wanting to change the subject so I didn't seem like _such_ a pathetic loser, "How are things with Brooke?"

Right as the words left my mouth, I realized that that was a mistake. Every time the subject of Brooke would come up, Lucas would first get the goofiest grin on his face, then proceed to talk _forever_ about her and how in love they were.

"She did the most adorable thing this morning..." I then blocked out all the rest he said, probably like what he did every time I bring up Haley. It's always the same... the only difference was he was in love and happy, whereas I was simply in love.

---

**AN: OK guys, I'm sorry if right now it's a little confusing, I promise things will clear up, just be patient. Thanks so much guys for reading, and please please please reply! I love hearing what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey guys, decided to update sooner than usual! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews to: asharp4, naleysocute23, Lorilozz, mayra23, ravenhottie23, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, MrsLucasScott, SLUVER15, naley-lover-01, Sam2007, Mary Kate113, Nathanlvr23, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, NateandHales, utterlylost1108, naleyluv, and DayDreamer323.**

**Sorry about the last chapter being a little confusing. It should be much clearer after this chapter!**

**OK, guys, just to clarify: May 1st is the day Naley met, and when I say "Present Day" that is six months later. I know things got a little confusing in the last chapter. I hope this update clears a few things up.**

**Chapter 7**

Present Day, Nathan's POV

_I remember that night so vividly, it seems like it was just yesterday. I remember what color shirt I wore, what color my plastic cup was, what the exact time was when Haley James rang my doorbell. The shirt and the cup were both blue. And Haley came at 9:43. I remember staring at that clock while I tried desperately and unsuccessfully to calm my nerves, Tim's voice going on and on in the distance. But he knew I wasn't paying attention. Anyone who was around me that day knew that my mind was occupied; that something was different to make me act so completely... possessed. _

_I would give anything to feel that full of emotion again, even if just for a moment. Just for one day. I will never loose hope in finding her. And even if my mind sometimes thinks that this is impossible, that I should just let go, my heart knows better. My heart knows for damn sure that we will find each other again._

---

May 1st

"Dude, you have got to snap out of it!" Lucas says to me for maybe the billionth time. "I don't think I've ever seen you nervous before. _Especially_ for a girl."

"I know, I know..." I said, also for the billionth time. "I'll feel better once the party's started. It's all this waiting that getting me messed up," I said not being able to help my nervous movement. I just couldn't sit still!

"What do you think she'll think about my house, man?" I couldn't help but ramble on. My mind was saying _shut up! shut up!_, but I just could not listen to it. "What about the music? Oh my god, I forgot about Tim. What if Tim scares her away!" I noticed Lucas roll his eyes at this, but didn't react, I was too buys freaking out and fluffing the freaking pillows!

"Have you forgotten who Tim is? He's completely harmless!"

"I'm not worried about him harming him, Luke, I'm worried about him weirding her out! You know Tim, I mean he's not the best people-person. Uh..." I frantically tried to find a solution to this problem, while I noticed Lucas becoming increasingly fed up with me. "I know, why don't we just find him a girl and keep him shacked up all night in some bedroom away from Haley-"

"Nate-"

"No, you're right. What was I thinking? Where would we find a girl interested in _Tim_?"

"Nate!" Lucas yelled, grabbing my full attention... well almost full attention. "Bro, I love you... but right now you're annoying the hell our of me, and you really need to calm down, ok?" He said putting a helping hand on my shoulder. I nodded and he gave me a drink. "Alright, drink this down, but _just_ this one, ok? Just to calm your nerves, not to make you drunk, ok?" He said this very slowly and keeping eye contact, as to make for absolute sure that I understood.

"Yes, mommy," I replied taking the drink and gulping it down.

---

About four drinks (snuck while Lucas wasn't looking) later, I started to feel a buzz. I vaguely remembered Lucas telling me to only drink one drink, and me wanting to obey him, but sneaking drinks anyways because I was just so damn nervous... Those five drinks hadn't done anything but make me, on top of still being incredibly nervous, also a little tipsy. By then the party was in full swing, and about five minutes later, at exactly 9:43 the doorbell rang.

---

Haley's POV

I was getting so nervous, I was starting to not only annoy Peyton, who had to endure hours of me fussing about this and that, but myself. I didn't want to be the idiotic naïve girl that lived off of every word that comes out of a boy's mouth. Waiting desperately for a compliment or a phone call. No, I was Haley James, _my own person._

"Haley, you're not seriously still nervous?" Peyton said in that tone of hers, as we walked up the steps leading the the massive Scott mansion... and this was just their _beach_ house!

"Well, I was fine in the car, but now that we're here..." I didn't finish my sentence, knowing very well that I didn't have to. We reached the front door and I hesitated to ring the bell. Was it too late to just turn around and leave?

"Please, just relax. I promise once we're inside, and once you guys start talking, you'll be fine," I must have still looked unconvinced because for some reason she felt the need to continue. "But that can't happen unless we actually make it inside." She said nodding over to the doorbell, which I reluctantly rang.

The door swung open only seconds later by a guy, I vaguely remembered from the Ravens' basketball team. "Hey hey! Find ladies, that I would definitely remember if they went to Tree Hill High... No, you girls must have seen my online profile!" He said slightly sticking his tongue out and nodding his head; that mixed with his shaggy hair, gave me the mental image of him as a dog. He would make an adorable dog...

I tried my hardest not to laugh, and apparently Peyton wasn't trying at all, as I heard fits of laughter coming from her direction. "Actually," I managed to say with a straight face... sort of, "We're here to see Nathan. I mean, he invited me. And I invited her." I said pointing to the hysterical Peyton next to me, shaking with laughter, giving her a 'cut it out' face.

"Yeah I kind of guessed," Tim said hanging his head low. I resisted the urge to pet him and moved passed him. Peyton stopped in front of him.

"Don't worry, buddy. I have a boyfriend, but if I didn't, I'd totally dig you," She said, and then moved to join me. This seemed to cheer him up. Once we had moved out of his earshot, I asked her,

"Is that true?" She gave me a look.

"No, but I feel bad for the poor guy. All these slutty girls coming in here just for Nathan..."

"Great. That makes me feel _so_ much better," I replied my voice full of sarcasm. But I didn't hear her response, or even if she had one, because I suddenly noticed the sight that I never thought I would see. In fact, it wasn't only unexpected, but it was utterly and completely... odd.

"Nathan, what are you doing?" I said walking over to him, Peyton staying behind to scope out the crowd. Nathan was sitting by himself at a table, busy stacking empty plastic cups on top of one another. He jumped when I spoke and the foot-tall pile fell down.

"Ah, look what you made me do!" He slurred, and I realized by whom those cups had been emptied. I was stunned, I couldn't even find one word to say. After a moment he looked up at me quickly, "Hey! Haley, you came!"

He tried to get up too quickly and fell limp, and if I hadn't caught him, he would have fallen face-flat on the floor. "Ok, I have way too many things to say to you right now, and I don't really know if I should say them, considering you may not even remember this conversation tomorrow." I said thinking out-loud.

"What?" Nathan said carrying his own weight now and practically standing up on his own. "No, Haley, I remember every single word you say to me." He said, unaware that he was yelling a little and people were starting to stare. And while I would have loved to stand there for a moment and let those sweet words sink in, I needed to get him out of there. So I dragged him outside the back door, onto a porch.

I was disappointed. Disappointed that this night, that I had looked forward to with such anticipation, could be ruined, and it wasn't even my fault. He invited me to spend more time with me. To get to know me, talk to me. So why would he get drunk? Disappointment turned to sadness. And sadness turned to anger. And when I was angry, I really wasn't responsibly for my actions.

Out of nowhere, I just brought my hand up and slapped him. Wow, that must have been a real buzz-kill, hun? As soon as I realized what I had done, I brought my hand back up to his cheek soothingly. And spat out apologies at one hundred miles an hour. What had gotten into me?

"Nathan, oh my god, I can't believe I just did that. Are you OK?" I asked frantically.

"Ow..." Was all he answered, but he didn't seem quite as out of it... Maybe this had worked to my advantage? Oh no, was I so selfish that I would hurt him just so our evening wasn't ruined?

"Maybe I should go," I said, giving up on our night, and honestly still a little upset at him.

"No, no!" He said grabbing my arm stopping me, by now he was pretty sober. I think that slap did him some good. "I deserved that... Haley, I'm so sorry. I was nervous, so I had a drink."

"_A_ drink?"

"OK, more than one... but it was just because I was terrified. I was looking forward to the moment you stepped into my house for so long that as the time went by I just grew more and more nervous., and I'm just not good and handling stuff like that-"

"Nathan, it's ok. Trust me, if there's anyone who understands about being so nervous, it's me. And even though, you did disappoint me a little when I found you here drunk-" I said, finally finding a little confidence in me to state my true feelings.

"Haley-" He interrupted me.

"I like you, Nathan. And if slapping you out of your drunken state is the only way for us to finally have a getting to know each other conversation, then dammit, I am willing to take that risk!" I joked.

"Haha," he said sarcastically, and then his tone changed to serious, "But I like you too, Hales," He said and I smiled at his use of my nick-name. I usually didn't like it, but hearing it come from him... It wasn't so bad. "You know I can't help thinking that it's fate- you and me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I mean think about it," He explained, "I just met you today, yet I've already _met_ you three times."

"That is weird," I said thinking about it, and a plan formed in my mind. "Hey, I have an idea."

"What is it?" He looked at me skeptically.

"How about I give you my number-"

"Sounds great-"

"I wasn't done yet," I insisted, "And how about we leave it up to destiny to reunite us."

"You mean I'll have your number, but not be able to use it? That's just pure teasing..."

"Well, if this really is fate, than you won't have to use it. We're bound to bump into each other sometime, right?"

"But what if we don't? Are you willing to risk that?"

"That's what the numbers are for. If say... by the new year we haven't seen each other, and we're still interested, we call." Maybe I was in a romantic mood, or maybe I had just seen way too many chick-flicks, but the realization that the new year was _seven months_ away didn't seem to faze me.

He thought about this for a moment, and finally agreed, "OK. You want to know why I'm agreeing to this?" I nodded and he continued, "because something tells me that we'll find each other before the new year."

"OK. So... deal?" I said extending my hand for a shake. He looked at it for a moment.

"Deal." He said placing his hand firmly in mine.

---

**AN: OK guys, please don't hate me! OK so the next chapter will be the next half of this party and more present day stuff. This story only has a few more chapters left. I hope you guys liked it! Please review**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks for the reviews to: MrsLucasScott, Mary Kate113, delia41321, naleyluv, DayDreamer323, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, NateandHales, itsDMFkids, Nathanlvr23, Sam2007, asharp4, coupling-all-the-time, naleysocute23, and Hera Agathon!**

**Just know that your reviews make me incredibly happy, and motivate me to update! Thanks a million! Happy Holidays everyone!**

**Chapter 8**

Present Day, Haley's POV

December 28

If anyone were to ask me what came over me to make such a deal with Nathan, I wouldn't know what to answer them. One too many chick flicks to the head, I guess. I told myself it would be romantic, and that we'd already managed run into each other a number of times in that one day... How hard could it be to find ourselves once in seven months?

Turns out, it's pretty hard. Summer came and went without so much as a glimpse of my dream guy, and after a while I stopped trying- figured he had stopped a long time ago. He had probably moved on by now. The sad thing is that it's almost that time when the hunt is over. I have his number and I can call him, but how desperate would that sound? Him with his new girl, getting a call from another girl he doesn't even remember? No way was I about to humiliate myself like that... Not a chance.

I fumbled with the piece of paper in my hands... I had done this many times before, drawing little hearts around the seven digits, folding the tiny piece of paper time and time again so that now it was so wrinkled it was barely legible. Which made me even more careful of it. But I never used it to pick up the damn phone and call. Never.

"I'm so sick of this," I said out loud to myself, fed up, tossing the piece of paper to the side.

"Sick of what?" A voice said from my doorway, startling me. I hadn't even noticed Peyton standing there. She came over and sat on the bed next to me.

"Nothing... I'm over it."

"Ah, Nathan," She said, and I knew it wasn't a wild guess. I swear, if I were her I would have broken our friendship a long time ago. All my incessant Nathan-talk, she must get so aggravated. But for some strange reason, she stays. She comforts me, talks to me, helps me through this.

"One of these days, I will shut up about him, I swear!" I lied, and she knew it.

"Hales, it's okay to still like the guy. I mean, you crushed pretty hard. It's understandable," She said, probably thinking that I would never get over him. I'll show her. I can do this, I'm not some love-struck puppy, I can move on...

"No..." I said picking of the discarded piece of paper that held on it perhaps my only way of ever speaking to Nathan again; his phone number. "It's really not. I mean- six months? That's... insane... I'm over it." I said concentrating on the piece of paper, and a choice formed in my mind. I could: A/call him, and humiliate myself, or B/rip it up and pretend to have moved on.

Peyton gave me this look; this 'yeah right, as if you could ever destroy this prized possession of yours' look. I didn't think about it anymore. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tore the paper in two without thinking about it again, threw the pieces into the trash, and let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Ok, we really need to get your mind off of this," Peyton said getting up and extending her hand to me, which I willingly took and got up too, "Jake and I might go to a party at Bevin's on New Year's Eve. It'll be fun, we should go."

Excellent; way to get me back down again. That lasted- what?- sixteen seconds? Great. I can't help it that just about any word reminds me of him. But especially the word 'party.' I haven't been to very many parties in my life, but that one party will stay in my memory forever...

---

May 1st, Nathan's POV

"So, how's this whole deal thing supposed to work? I mean, am I allowed to-" I stared to say wanting to know more. She couldn't possibly believe that we weren't going to be seeing each other in the next seven months, could she? Not a chance.

"Let's not talk about the deal right now. The whole point of this is that we live in the moment, you know?" She said, and I wasn't completely sure how to interpret that. Does that mean she wants me to kiss her? Ah, that sounds so good right now...

"You're right," I answered, trying to snap out of it. _Don't blow it, Nate_ I told myself over and over again. "Nothing else matters." I said; and I meant it. Right then, with her right in front of me, only about a foot away, I was completely oblivious of my surroundings.

"Really?" She said, and my stomach turned. Was I responsible for that gleam in her eyes? I sure hope so, because she never looked so beautiful as right in that moment. So I leaned in closer.

"Yeah," I whispered, and she could hear me because by then our lips were mere inches apart, almost driving me insane. But I didn't want to rush things, I wanted to be able to recollect every single aspect of every single moment of this.

"BODY SHOTS!" Jumping back, I could have probably had a heart attack, as I was suddenly very aware of our surroundings, and getting quite frustrated. Tim's screaming drunken voice could have been heard miles away, as he ran around the house. I looked over at Haley to see that her reaction didn't exactly mimic mine. She looked more embarrassed, than shocked. More shy than frustrated.

Aching for some privacy, I suddenly grabbed Haley's hand and led her outside with me, to the back deck. We stood there awkwardly, waiting for one of us to begin talking...

"Sorry," We both said at the same time, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked. "They're my idiot friends..."

"Well, I don't know if you can tell, but I really have no idea what I'm doing here," She said, getting me a little scared. No, scratch that- very scared. So she had come to my party, almost kissed me, and now she was acting like she... regretted it?

"I thought you said you came because you liked me?" I said, not really feeling weird about it, it was after all the truth.

"I did- I mean, I do... But-" I was desperate to stop her, to kiss her, to hold her. So, I reached out to her, laying my hands on her hips.

"Please don't finish that sentence," I pleaded, and just like that she complied, and I leaned forward, determined that nothing would stop us this time. My lips met hers, and the relief I felt when she started kissing me back like none I had ever felt before. I had meant it to be a sweet, soft kiss, not wanting to scare her away. However, when she wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss herself, I lost myself in the moment.

When we finally broke apart, we were practically gasping for air. But I refused to let her go, and likewise she kept her arms around my neck and we stood for a few minutes like that, just staring into each others eyes, and just like that all the awkwardness, or embarrassment was gone. All of a sudden a look of panic came across her face, and I began to worry.

"Oh no, what time is it?" She said letting go of me, as I did of her, seeing as this was definitely not the time. I looked at my phone: 11:56 pm. I told her this and she only seemed to become more frantic.

"What? What's wrong? Let me guess: at midnight your clothes turn into rags and your carriage into a pumpkin?" I teased. She seemed to ignore the fact that this was a _joke_ and didn't laugh.

"I _wish_. But, nope, midnight is my curfew. And if you thought Cinderella's step-mother was mean, well then you really haven't met mine." She said running back into the house, me following right behind her, which was getting a little tiring. Was there such thing as an olympic walk-a-thon? Because Haley would be great at that.

"Haley, it's not a big deal, I can come with you and explain-"

"_No!_" She said, and then calmed down a little, "I'm sorry, it's just, I never do anything wrong. Anything. So breaking curfew is enough to make my parents super mad at me but bringing home a boy who just two hours ago was completely drunk will make them kill me." I was a little surprised, I mean, Tree Hill was a small town. Anywhere she lived, she would get to in ten minutes, would her parents really care that much?

But Haley was right; although I was pretty sober right now, I did not want to make my first impressions on Haley's parents at midnight after one of my parties. But then I realized that this meant I had to say goodbye to Haley, possibly for _seven months_. There was no way I could live with that idea, so I shoved that little detail into the back of my mind as I kissed her a few more times; at first to try and calm her down (which worked), and then just because I didn't want to let her go. And although I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't help but wonder, how on Earth I could go on for who knows how long without kissing those perfect lips?

---

**AN: OK guys, I know I changed Haley's mom a little, saying she was so strict because in the show she totally isn't at all, but I guess this worked better for this particular story, so yeah. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR READING!! Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey guys! I hope everyone had happy holidays! Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: deli41321, 3scottiehotties23, naleyluv, DayDreamer323, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, NateandHales, naleysocute23, Mary Kate113, and Nathanlvr23!**

**I'm so sorry about all the date confusion! Here's the deal: May 1st was the day that Nathan and Haley met several times and sort of fell in a love-at-first-sight. But from now on in the story I'm just writing in the present, which is in December, seven months later and they haven't seen each other since May 1st. I hope that cleared things up!**

**Chapter 9**

Present Day, Nathan's POV

December 31- New Years Eve

"Remind me again who's throwing this party?" I asked Lucas for maybe the tenth time. I knew I had asked dozens of times. And I knew that he had answered, but that didn't mean I had _heard_ him. My mind was elsewhere. It was, and has been for the last seven months, with Haley. But even more so on this particular day.

"Some chick Brooke knows from cheer-camp," He answered, and I could tell he was irritated by me. But he didn't say anything, which I was thankful for.

"Have I ever met her?" I said, making small talk as I slipped a piece of paper into my jeans' pocket, hoping he wouldn't notice. That piece of paper I had told everyone else that I had torn up, a sign of me moving on. Letting go. But in fact, it was still in one piece, and I treasured it. Even if she had moved on, even if she didn't even remember me, I was going to call her at midnight tonight. It's not like me to be afraid, or nervous. But why do I get the slight feeling that me calling her at this point would be a little pathetic? Because it's also not like me to act pathetic...

"Probably. Brooke set her and Skillz up a while ago, and they've been inseparable. She's the peppy blonde girl, permanently attached to him."

"Oh, right." I mumbled, having a vague recollection of this girl. But truthfully I didn't really care. Lucas and the rest of the guys had been doing everything in their power to get me out and enjoying myself, and I was thankful. At least I wasn't lying around all day, _just_ thinking about Haley... Instead, I was thinking about her at a party, at the mall, on the courts, etc... They kept using the old 'oh, Haley might be there!' to get me to go places, and to be honest, it worked. Is that just really, really sad?

There's a line between endearing and just pathetic... and I think I'm flirting with it.

---

Haley's POV

I pulled the last top of my pile over my head, trying my best not to break the fragile material as it wrapped my body tightly. Not me, I decided. _Definitely_ not me. Just then, the voices of Peyton and Bevin were heard outside my tiny little dressing room.

"Hales, come out and show us!" Peyton demanded.

"I swear, I am just bad luck. Eleven tops, and not _one_ looked good on me!"

"Let us be the judges of that, and come out!" Not being one to argue much with my friends, and easily pressured, I did as I was told. Oh, what a smart move that was. Not. I will now have to get hearing aide from the damage my two friends' screaming did to my ear drums.

"Haley James, you are so _hot_!!" Peyton screamed, as Bevin nodded along enthusiastically. Now, I knew I should have been offended by her astonishment, and the fact that she only thought I looked hot when I was standing there in a skimpy little tube-top. But I wasn't; I was even more surprised then her at this statement.

"What? No, I'm not!" I said spinning around to look at myself in the mirror. Ok, so this top does make my boobs look bigger. Does that mean I'm all of a sudden Haley James, hot babe? Not about to happen...

"Yes, Hales, you are. This is perfect for my party tonight," Bevin said. "The boys will go _crazy_ when they see you in this!" And that's exactly what I'm afraid of, I felt like saying. I have no interest in "the boys". I only have interest for one. One that has been exempt from my life for the past seven months.

But I failed to mention any of this to my friends, because I already know what they'd say. They'd say that that is so "Haley James" of me; to stay hung up on some guy from seven months ago. They'd tell me to move on, and find me some other guy. And since I am clearly not interested, I stopped mentioning Nathan to my friends, because it was just pointless.

So, after a full ten minutes of Peyton and Bevin convincing me to buy the top, then me changing my mind with the old "I'll never wear it. I look like a slut" (works every time... usually), I finally just bought the damn shirt just to make them shut up.

---

Nathan's POV

Words could not describe this party. The second I walked in with Luke, Tim, and Skillz, I regretted it. There was still three hours until midnight and it seemed as though everyone in all of North Carolina was already there. There were some who were already piss-drunk, who would probably pass out by 10:30. Kind of defeats the purpose of this whole party, doesn't it? But then there were the ones standing in the corner, wall flowers, looking a bit awkward. It made me sad to know that in an hour or so, I would probably be one of them, bored with the party, waiting on the side while all my friends got some action... well, except maybe Tim...

Either way, I knew I wasn't going to have a good time. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. And I knew I would be spending my evening just waiting until the big and small hands reach the 12, so I can finally pick up the damn phone and call Haley.

"Dude, will you lighten up?" Lucas said, more as a command than a question.

"Seriously, man, you're usually the life of the party. What's gotten into you?" Skillz said honestly. I hadn't exactly told him about Haley. Lucas was the closest to knowing my inner-torment, and he didn't even know all of it. I just sensed that my friends wouldn't exactly understand what I was going through. It was easier to lie. Much easier.

"Nothing, man. So am I going to get to meet this girlfriend of yours or what?" I said, eager to change the subject, and to occupy myself. "I mean, I've seen her around, but I've never officially met her. I want to see who's got big-shot Skillz all whipped!" I said, dodging his playful punch to my arm.

"Hell no, I am not whipped, ok? She's my shorty," Skillz said, and the way he said it, kind of sounded sweet... In a way that made me wish I had someone to talk like that about. Just then, the petite blonde in question snuck up being him and hugged him.

"Are you guys talking about me?" She said in a slight-southern accent. There were some introductions, a few minutes of small talk before they headed off to the dance floor. Soon after Lucas was gone too, when Brooke pulled him away. I was left with Tim who, big surprise, soon ran off to a pack of girls gathered around the keg.

---

Haley's POV

"I knew this was not a good idea," I said to Peyton as we walked through Bevin's giant house. "Everyone is looking at me with _that look._"

"What look? The 'damn she looks hot' look?" Peyton said jokingly, as she scanned the crowd for Jake.

"No, the 'damn, she's trying way to hard, she should just stick to tutoring' look," I replied, nervous, and desperately regretting having taken Peyton and Bevin's advice of wearing this top.

"Right," Peyton said sarcastically, "Hales will you please stop complaining? These guys are all lusting over you. You look great. Have fun," And with that she gave me a little nudge before running of to meet up with Jake. Great. Alone, once again. _Thankfully, I'm used to it, and I came prepared,_ I thought as I pulled out my book that I had so conveniently snuck into my purse. This was going to be a very... _un_interesting night...

---

I checked my watch for the billionth time that night. 11:54 pm. People were started to get excited. I would have thought that all of their excitement had worn off an hour ago when they thought it was midnight, only to realize that Bevin's clock was in fact an hour ahead. As a sober on-looking, it was quite amusing. But I was wrong, they seemed to be even more excited, and even more drunk than before, and I didn't think it was possible. Silly Haley, I told myself, never underestimate the drinking habits that take place on New Year's Eve.

I had decided to plant myself outside on Bevin's front porch, where the music was slightly less loud, and if I tried real hard to block out all other noises (and there were some pretty interesting noises, let me tell you) I could actually concentrate on reading my book. By now, I was wearing my oversized sweatshirt I had insisted on bringing, as it was quite cold outside.

Peyton and Bevin seemed so busy with their men, that I hadn't seen them once. Which I was pretty thankful for. I love them to death, but if I have to hear one more time about how I need to just move on and jump the next guy that slurs a few pretty words at me, I think I will explode.

---

Nathan's POV

Stupidly, all the guys around me started the countdown right at 11:59, and started at 60. Getting bored by the time they got to 45, it died down. I, not drunk like them, therefore not getting quite as excited as them, refrained from joining in. My hand found it's way into my pocket and grasped my cell phone tightly, ready to flip it open and dial the number I had been dying to dial since the moment I received it.

_30 seconds left._ Not feeling the whole New Years' spirit, I decided that I needed a little fresh air. I had spend the whole time inside, but not doing anything, just watching, talking a little, but mostly sitting around.

Brooke and Lucas caught me before I left though. Which surprised me, considering they had just a second ago been attached by their mouths.

"Guys, didn't anyone tell you, you're supposed to wait until it's _midnight_ to make out," I joked and Brooke hit my arm, as Lucas just laughed.

"Where're you going, man? It's almost time," He said, ignoring my previous statement. _20 seconds._

"I'm just going to go get some air. As you were," I said and I left before they could stop me.

I pushed myself through the crown and finally reached the door. _13 seconds._ When I had opened the door, I felt a huge gust of wind, and realized how refreshing it was, even though I knew in about two seconds I would freeze to death, considering I was only wearing a T-shirt. By this time, they had begun the ten-second countdown and I started to feel a little nervous.

Who knows what sparked these nerves... But there they were. And as if they were a premonition, a sign if you will, that nervousness multiplied by about ten thousand when I found myself face to face with Haley James, reading a book, completely unaware of me.

_6 seconds_

Or had she seen me and not recognized me? Not recognized me, of course, because she had already forgotten about me... But I was not going to be stupid enough to get my doubts in the way of my hopes. I wasn't going to just let this go. Not a chance.

"Haley?" I said, my voice cracking a little bit.

_3 seconds_

She glanced up from her apparently very engaging book, and those mesmerizing brown eyes grew a little wider in surprise as met mine. I gave a little smile, trying to shake off the mad butterflies in my stomach.

"Nathan?" She said, with a look of disbelief. My heart melted when she returned my smile with one of her own.

_1 second._

"Wow," She said capturing the real essence of the situation. If both her and my surprise to see each other at that very moment was put into one word, that would be it: _Wow_

_Happy New Year_

---

**AN: Haha, I know I'm so mean for leaving it there! I hope you guys liked it; please leave a review! Happy New Year everyone! Next chapter is the last one!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks to: dot, NateandHales, naleysocute23, naleyluv, SLUVER15, DayDreamer323, brit, NaleyyIsLove, barefoot!, Sam2007, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, JPNeverlosetheeButterflies, coupling-all-the-time, bellasmomma, NaleYLuv01, Lauren, othluver2325, Nathanlvr23, KissOnMe, nathans.girl.23, chelle2911, pam211, MrsLucasScott, and onesweetthrill23!!**

**Alright, so this is the last chapter!! I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 10**

Nathan's POV

Explosions of 'Happy New Year's' and cheers came from inside the house, but we never broke our gaze. She opened her mouth a few times to say something, and then closed it again. I wanted to tell her to say whatever it was, just to hear that voice again, but I was too busy thinking of what to say myself. Finally, I opted for something a little old-school.

"Do you, uh..." I cleared my throat, "do you want to go for a walk?" A vivid flashback to the basketball game appeared in my mind. Haley had just blown up at me, after what turned out to be a troublesome misunderstanding. Desperate not only to get to know her better, but to prove myself to her, I had asked her to go for a walk with me. And she had agreed.

The smile that appeared across her lips at that moment let me know that she remembered that night and those words as well. Nodding her head, she answered, "Sure." I mirrored her smile, in earnest joy and excitement. I made a mental note of thanking Lucas profusely for forcing me to come here tonight.

I fingered the small scrap of paper, still in my jeans' pocket, deciding whether or not I should tell her about it. Either way, I had to say _something_ soon. I felt like an idiot just standing there, in complete silence, sneaking glances over to her. It was still so surreal. Was she simply an illusion? Or had I forgotten how amazing it felt to have her standing right next to me? Had I forgotten just how beautiful she was?

"I still can't believe this," She said, reading my mind, "I mean when we made that deal so long ago, I didn't really believe that we would go seven months without seeing each other."

"Yeah, I know what you mean... I'm having trouble believing this is all real," I said, "I feel like any second now, I'm just going to wake up and find this was all just a dream." Now, I would have never predicted her next move. But boy, did it make me happy. She reached over and grabbed my hand, very casually I might add, and I looked over to see that she was staring right at me.

"It's real," She said, with a smile of reassurance. And just like that. _Just like that_. It was as if those last seven months had never even happened. I felt right then the way I'd felt on May 1st, whenever I was around her. And just when she opened her mouth to say something else, I couldn't stop myself from kissing her.

---

Haley's POV

Somewhere between a squeal and a moan- that's the noise I made when I was surprised with the feeling of Nathan's lips on mine. _Amazing_. I had so much to tell him. So many times over the last few months, I would experience something during my day, and for some reason find myself _dying_ to share them with Nathan. But when he kissed me, all coherent thoughts escaped my mind, and I suddenly understood what people meant when they said that talking was overrated.

His arms encircled my waist and I grabbed onto his shoulders to try and bring him closer, if that was at all possible. We eventually pulled away, but kept our embrace in tact. I'm sure, if I could have, I would have stayed in that position for the rest of my life.

"You have goose-bumps," I said, feeling them on his exposed arms. Only wearing that cotton t-shirt, he must have been freezing in the winter, night-air.

"I guess I should have brought a sweatshirt," He said, "I mean, I didn't really plan to take a walk at midnight, outside, so..." He shrugged to hide his shivering. But I noticed. Being quite warm myself, in my over-sized Stanford sweatshirt, I decided to switch the roles a little bit. Play around. So I quickly pulled it over my head and off, and not giving Nathan time to protest, I handed it to him.

Of course, only when I saw his eyes widen with shock, did I realize that all I had been wearing underneath was that skimpy top that Bevin and Peyton had forced me to both buy and wear to this party. That's right, the wonder-bra top!

---

Nathan's POV

OK, so I'd like to think that I'm not a jerk. I'm not some superficial, dumbass jock, who only cares about looks and sex. But at that moment I must have seemed like it to Haley, because as soon as she realized that she had just stripped to reveal one of the skimpiest tops I have ever seen, she went on this huge rant of: "They _made_ me buy it. This is _so_ not me. Oh. My. God. You must think I'm such a slut. Oh, this is embarrassing..." I had to cut her off at some point, or we would have been there all night.

"Haley, relax. I may be having a little trouble _thinking_ right now," I said, smiling "I mean, I am a guy, after all. But I can't take your sweatshirt from you. You look a little,uh... uncomfortable like that. And honestly, I don't really want other guys seeing my girlfriend dressed like this." Her eyes shot to mine at that last sentence.

"Your 'girlfriend'?" She said, eyes wide, completely unreadable. I couldn't tell if she meant that as a good thing or a bad thing. Girlfriend? Had I said that? It must have just come out...

"Whatever," I said, brushing it off, and handing her her sweatshirt back, "take it, I'm fine," I said as ironically, a breeze passed by making me shiver. Why were they outside in the middle of the night? In the middle of winter?

"No, you're not. Really, I'm ok... just a little embarrassed," She said sheepishly. Figuring that all this 'you take it- no you take it' stuff wasn't going to get us anywhere, I took off my own shirt, pulled her sweatshirt over my head, and handed her my T-shirt, that would probably be large enough on her to act as a sweatshirt anyway.

"Thanks," she whispered, putting it on, and smiling sweetly. I couldn't help but pull her into another kiss. Talking to her was great and all, but let's face it, we had a _lot_ of time to make up for. And she didn't seem to mind.

---

Haley's POV: Four Months Later

I waited for Nathan in the Tree Hill High parking lot, torn between excited about the news, and dreading telling him. I was playing with my hair, pulling it into a ponytail, putting it back down again... anything to keep me busy. When Nathan stepped out of the building, I swear, my heartbeat accelerated more than it had ever done before. _Calm down, Haley!_ I told myself over and over again.

He saw me immediately and ran over. I took a deep breath. "Hey," I managed to say, before his lips met mine, in a searing kiss.

"Hi," He said, smiling when he pulled away. Something was off.

"Everything OK?" I asked, as we started walking back to my house. This was the routine: I get out of school, walk over to his school and he would walk me home. But of course, school was almost ending. Our senior year was almost over. And while I hated to admit it, there were a lot of changes that were coming our way.

"Yeah, just happy to see you, that's all." He said, although he still held that goofy smile on his face. I figured, better he be in an overly good mood than in a bad one, so I tried to ignore it.

"So," I started, not being able to look him in the eye, "I kind of have some news..." He gestured for me to continue, looking a little worried now, "It's nothing to worry about... I mean, I don't know..."

"Haley, just tell me," He said. Right, I wish it were that easy. I plastered a slight fake smile across my face.

"I got into Stanford!" I braced myself for his reaction. Practicing this in front of the mirror had done nothing to prepare me. While me and Nathan were close, and had been dating for a while now, he was still somewhat of a mystery to me. I never knew quite what to expect. Nathan's expression was unreadable. Then a smile crept upon his lips. Now there was something I wasn't expecting.

And suddenly I was flying. Out of nowhere, Nathan had grabbed me and swung me around in the air, like a father does to a three year old. I let out a little yelp and giggled, "What's gotten into you?"

"Is that really all you wanted to tell me? God, Haley I thought it was going to be something horrible. This is great! I'm so happy for you," He said hugging me, and what's weirder... It actually seemed like he meant it.

"Really?" I said, still in shock. And my head spinning a little.

"Yeah, we have to celebrate! I'll take you out to dinner tonight, wherever you want to go," He said enthusiastically. I was trying my hardest to turn that fake smile into a genuine one, but it just wasn't coming. As much as I wanted to live in the moment, celebrate, be happy for myself, I couldn't. Questions about the future kept popping into my head. What happens when we graduate in a month? What happens when we go off to college? All these questions were clouding my mind, and they didn't seem to be bothering Nathan in the least.

I just wish that everything was still as simple, and as easy as it was on New Years.

-FLASHBACK-

_Walking back to the party, holding hands, and talking about anything and everything, I felt myself start to get nervous again. Those butterflies in my stomach had disappeared when I had reconnected with Nathan, and especially after that long walk, but for some reason they were rearing their ugly heads as we approached the entrance to Bevin's house. I guess Nathan noticed it, because he immediately asked me what was wrong._

_"I'm just nervous I guess..." I responded, but that was only half of it. What was I supposed to do when introducing him to my friends?_ Hey guys, this is the guy you've heard me obsess about for the past seven months!_ No, that was not about to happen. _

_"Why? Do you think this is to soon or something?"_

_"Honestly," I said, not wanted to start of this relationship dishonestly... whatever sort of 'relationship' is really was, "I don't really know _this_ is." I said, motioning the space between us._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I mean- earlier when you called me your girlfriend..." I said, hesitantly. I didn't want to be that girl that had to put a label on everything. But at the same time, I didn't like this stage we were at right now. This place where I would be constantly asking myself what to introduce him as, where exactly we stand._

_He sighed, and looked at his shoes. I could tell that he was battling with what to say next. I squeezed his hand, that was still firmly holding on to mine, to reassure him that I was still there, and I had no intention of leaving. "I'm sorry, if that was weird," he said softly. I wanted to yell out: No, it wasn't! It was fantastic! But I kept my mouth shut to hear what he had to say first._

_"I mean, I have spent the last nine months waiting for this very day... I guess I just got a little ahead of myself," The way he said that just made me want to kick myself. Why did I have to say something? Why couldn't I just let him call me his girlfriend, and move along?_

_"No!" I said, a little to intensely perhaps, "You just took me by surprise- that's all." Not that I didn't absolutely love being called your girlfriend, I wanted to add._

_He smiled, and I have to say- shy looked good on the boy. His cheeks reddened a little, and he looked at the floor again. He hadn't striked me as the shy-type, but it reassured me that I wasn't the only nervous one here. "So... will you be my girlfriend?" He finally said, looking up from the ground into my eyes._

_I opened my mouth to say something. Yes, for example. I would love to- even better. What I really felt like saying was: Duh! However, while I'm sure either of these options would satisfy Nathan, they didn't quite measure up to what I had envisioned. That, and I didn't think I could go on much longer just looking at Nathan without jumping him. So I leaped out from the shy-girl I was known to be, and did just that. He reciprocated the kiss, and held me tightly, as if he would never let me go._

-END OF FLASHBACK-

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Nathan's POV

Something isn't right, and I can feel it. Haley should no better than try to hide something from me, because if there is anyone that knows her inside and out, I would like to think that it would be me. Now, she's sitting there in front of me, not touching her food, not looking me in the eye, and chewing on her lower lip.

"OK, what is going on with you?" I said, tired of trying to make conversation and just getting one word answers from my clearly-distracted girlfriend.

"Hun?" She said, as if just waking up. "I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry. You're having an awful time, aren't you?"

"_You_ aren't having a good time. Hales, you just got into your dream school. We're supposed to be _celebrating_ here!" I said, reaching over to take her hand in mine. I loved her. I really did. I was passed the point of hiding from it, or having the fact that I'm in love with her scare me. On the contrary, I loved being in love with her. And having her love me back- now, that was the best feeling there ever was.

She took her time before responding. "You're going to think I'm so stupid-"

"Not possible. Hales, you're the smartest person I know."

"No, I mean... I don't want to ruin the dinner. This was _so_ sweet of you, Nathan, really. But..." She took a deep breathe and I stared intently. Where was this going? "I don't see how you're so calm about this. And I don't want to put any pressure on us, but I have to say _something_."

"So say it," I said, trying to be gently, but I was beginning to get worried.

"We're graduating, Nathan!" She said, as if it was the worst news ever, "And OK, we have the whole summer, but if we don't talk about the future at least a little, I'm going to be spending that summer just wondering what will happen in the fall, when we go off to college. I don't like this, Nathan. I really don't like this-"

"Don't like what?" I asked still keeping a firm grip on her hand.

"I don't like the thought of being away from you!" She had tears in her eyes now, and I wanted so badly to do something, say something to make her feel better. Feel happy- but there was nothing I could do. "And it seems to me like you haven't thought about this at all. Like you're completely fine with being apart, but I'm not like that."

And I swear, seeing her this distressed made me water up a little, too. Had I thought about being away from her? Not much. But not because I didn't care. It was because I cared _too much_. I was dreading the day that we had to part ways, so whenever the thought came into my brain, I would push it as far away as possible.

"Haley," I said softly- that way maybe she wouldn't notice the crack in my voice, "I love you."

"I love you, too," She said sniffling, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Alright, so listen to me," I started, deciding to take the firm hand on this round, "Do you know what day it is?" She didn't answer, but instead gave me a blank look. So I smiled and continued, "It's May 1st." A small smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, Nathan..." She said, "I completely forgot... Wow, it's May 1st, really?.. Happy one-year anniversary, I guess."

"Exactly a year ago, I had on of the best days of my entire life. And you know what I thought on New Years, when we finally found each other again?"

"What?" She said softly.

"_I knew it_. That's what I thought. I told myself: I knew it. I knew I would find the girl of my dreams, again. Because you and I... we're inevitable. It wasn't a question of if it would happen, it was a question of when and where. And I knew that from the moment that you kissed me in front of St. Catherine's. I mean you were a complete stranger, and I knew it then and there," She returned my smile with a reassured one of her own, and my heart felt that much lighter.

"So, I have no idea what to do about college," I continued, "I know I don't want to be away from you. I know it'll be hard if we end up having to do the whole long-distance relationship thing. But, I also know that whatever obstacles will be thrown our way, we can get through them together. We're perfect together. And no college, or miles of separation is going to change that. It's just like I said: We're inevitable."

"Inevitable..." She whispered, "I like that."

"Me, too," I whispered back, pretty much all talked out. So I leaned over the table, as she did too, and our lips met in a sweet loving kiss. A kiss that signified our inevitability. A kiss that signified one year of our shared love. And a kiss that signified many more of those years to come.

---

-THE END-

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**AN: WOW!!! that was about two times longer than I planned it to be. I hope that makes up for the lost time, even though I doubt it did! I'm so sorry, again for the very very very long wait!**

**So anyways, that's the end! I really hope you guys liked it! Thank you so much for reading! The feedback from this fic has been amazing, and I want to thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. It means more to me than you know!**


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